The Way Of Story: Inspiration In Creative Writing

We are taught many things in school,
but all too often, this is linear learning, textbook learning. I can
remember sitting in classrooms as a child staring aimlessly out of
the window at passing clouds. The teacher's verdict was I was
wasting my time, yet who is to say that daydreaming is less valuable
than memorizing a list of facts? Thomas Edison was a daydreamer. He
pondered, "What if there could be light in a small bulb powered by
electricity?"

Non-creatives often forget how important
unscheduled time is for a writer. This seems particularly true of
those who hire writers. In the early Hollywood days when writers
were kept at the motion picture studios in offices, they were
supposed to be writing all day long. In fact, there is a story of
Louis B. Mayer - then head of MGM - routinely walking by the doors
of the writers' wing, his ear to the door to see if the typewriters
were clicking!

Sometimes the best writing occurs when the
writer is not physically writing. Once I was stumped
while writing an original comedy feature for Universal Studios. I
knew the what but not the how. So I did what has become my process:
stopped writing. I went swimming instead. About the eleventh lap
with my mind utterly blank, the solution appeared. My conscious mind
could not find the solution to the story, so I let go, and allowed
the mind to drift and dream. The solution appeared as a gift from
the invisibles, allowing me to go back to the desk and make my
deadline for the Studio.

Like dreams, creativity arises from
the unconscious. We have to create an empty space in our conscious
minds for the unconscious to emerge with its gifts. Our conditioning
prods us to rush in with interpretative meaning, learned meanings,
which may serve only to flatten the true value of what arises
naturally from within. Mental understanding won't necessarily change
us. To be transformed requires something more than rational thinking
or sentimentality. The conditioned way of mental knowing often
strengthens the ego at the expense of soul. In fact, mere mental
understanding may be overrated today.

Andy Warhol, who began
as a graphic designer for advertising, focused his art on American
icons or images that have become signposts for an era. Images as
Marilyn Monroe, John F. Kennedy, and Campbell Soup Cans all bespeak
America. What makes them work as art is that the audience identifies
with these images.

The soul of writing comes through the
image - what Keats called "soul-making." Images are indeed the
language of soul. They integrate mind, body, and spirit, and thereby
serve a healing function. When Shakespeare writes, "Out, out brief
candle," he is using the language of metaphor or imaging. He does
not say, "Out, out brief life." The metaphorical or symbolic image
lifts the reader above the gross level to a realm of poetry where
image and soul reign. This is where transformation occurs.

Metaphor is the language of the soul. Look for metaphors in
both waking and dream states. Awaken that part of the mind that
generates images. Dare to explore the unknown regions of the psyche,
for therein lie creative gold. Well-chosen images can help us
integrate mind and feeling which in today's culture has been split
asunder. Write with your senses, feelings, and invisible wonderings.
Write stories that serve the soul. There is no greater path than the
path to wholeness.

Even before there are stories, there are
images. Each life is formed by its unique image, an image that is
the essence of that life and that calls it to destiny. To discover
the image of our theme or main character, we must enter the
invisible world and allow it to carry us. Intuitive images occur, we
cannot make them. All we can do is get out of the way, thereby
inviting them to come through.

About Catherine Ann Jones

Catherine Ann Jones is an award-winning writer whose films include The Christmas Wife (Jason Robards), Unlikely Angel (Dolly Parton),
Angel Passing (Hume Cronyn, Calista Flockhart) and Touched by an Angel. Ten of her plays have been produced both in and outside of
New York City. Winner of the National Endowment for the Arts Award among others, Ms. Jones, a Fulbright Scholar to India, has served
on the writing faculties of The New School University (NYC), University of Southern California (L.A.), Pacifica Graduate Institute, and
the Esalen Institute.

Movie Outline's intuitive design helps you build and navigate your story outline, script and notes step by step through an AV remote-style console. You can highlight steps in different colors, merge multiple steps into a single step and easily rearrange your story narrative.

Index Cards For Steps & Scenes

Drag & Drop Reorganization

Color-Coded To Match Story Structure

Organizing your storyline is simple with Movie Outline's 'Drag & Drop' index cards which display your outline, script and notes for each step and scene. The cards can be color-coded to match your current structure template and repositioned in your outline with your mouse.

Create Your Own Structure Templates

Expand & Collapse Step Content

Reference 12 Hollywood Movies

PowerView lets you easily customize your story structure into color-coded acts, sequences or chapters and includes sample templates like the "3 Act Structure" and the "Hero's Journey" which many Hollywood blockbusters are based upon. You can also create your own templates.

Analyze Highs & Lows Of Your Story

Set FeelFactor Levels For Each Step

View 12 Hollywood Movie Graphs

Analyze your story pacing via a colored graph and compare it with breakdowns of popular movies in your reference library. The graph displays "FeelFactors" which are story elements that evoke a response in your audience such as shock, mystery, tension and romance.

Create In-Depth Character Profiles

Build Character Arcs Step By Step

Track Characters & View Speech Count

Movie Outline's Character Profile Wizard helps you create three-dimensional characters by answering a series of probing questions to build their personality. You can also define relationships with other characters and develop individual story arcs scene by scene.